In her Christmas cards this year, my mother accidentally wished everyone a happy 2010. I can understand this, mostly because in my good old day job, I am always looking a week ahead. Why not look a year ahead? Especially since the economy sucks and 2009 is most likely going to be an uphill struggle. But it will be uphill, and I have a lot of good things going on in 2009.

I am not making resolutions this year, because I generally don’t follow through. I did lose weight in 2008, but not as much as I wanted. I also managed to get two book deals in 2008 – one right before my birthday and one right before Christmas. Lovely presents, if you ask me. So in 2009 I have two e-books coming out. YAY! This is cool. Admittedly not quite as cool as having a print release, but still cool.

So what do I want to see out of 2009? Well, firstly I am going to re-write an old book, now titled Courting Kismet. I hope to take this to an agent and maybe even break into New York this year. That would be terrific. I’d like to write a completely new book this year, too, though I have three ideas currently brewing in my head and need to pick one.

On a personal level, I am looking forward to watching my oldest son compete in his second season of Special Olympics. He starts basketball practice right after the holidays. My second son will start middle school in the fall of 2009, and that opens up more opportunities for him, including Odyssey of the Mind and Academic Olympics. The youngest will finally be able to come into his own without the spectre of his brothers at the same school, not to mention starting Little League this summer. Yes, lots to look forward to in 2009.

So what are you all hoping to accomplish in 2009? If you make resolutions, what are they? Whatever you do, let’s hope 2009 is stellar for us all!

Hope everyone’s hollidays have been great so far. We’re not done. Oh, no, there’s lots more to come in the next week. This is party week, with Christmas and New Years and all the other holidays crammed into this short period each year. And at Chez Cate, the holidays this year have meant hours and hours spent with our favorite super spy James Bond.

Thanks to Spike TV, the husband and I have been able to indulge to our hearts’ content on James, Moneypenny, M, Q and various Bond bimbos. I’ve loved the Ian Flemming books since I read Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I wanted more, so at 13, my parents set me on Doctor No. Yep. The blood, the violence, the sex. They let me read it all, and I begged for more. So here are a couple Bond observations I’ve had over the years, starting with a few things I noticed just yesterday.

-Thunderball and Never Say Never Again are basically the same movie. You have Domino and Largo, and Domino’s brother is being used to get to some government bomb/equipment and she is really being held prisoner, though she thinks she is a guest of Largo. Both even have Connery as Bond, though one was made in the early 60s and the other in the 80s. I love Thunderball, by the way, and never could understand why I couldn’t get into Never Say Never Again. Now I get it. It’s a cheap knock off.

– If you have a thing for Bond girl names, don’t think Flemming stopped with Pussy Galore and Dr. Goodhead. Oh no, read or watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang sometime. Truly Scrumptious. The man could not help himself. He was apparently a horn dog.

– Ian Flemming once said the Bond charachter was not another side of himself. He states he was much more like Moneypenny.

– I think Daniel Craig sucks as Bond. Even worse than George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton. Yes, I am going to get arguments on that, and I know it. But my favorite Bond has always been Sean Connery, though Peirce Brosnan is starting to get my vote. He plays Bond as competent but flawed with a wicked sense of humor. Roger Moore was okay, too, but for me, I think it’s Peirce.

– They finally gave Bond a decent partner in Die Another Day. Jinx is a fabulous, kick-ass character and is basically a female Bond. And Halle Barry did a hell of a job playing her.

– There have been 23 Bond films, six actors playing Bond, and we accept it all. Bond has aged, gotten younger, and changed hair color, and no one has batted an eye. Even Jack Ryan couldn’t pull that off. Nobody bought poor Ben Affleck in the role. Hell, even Q couln’t pull that off, and now we have “New M” with Dame Judi Dench (one of my favorite actresses). But as I said before, folks will gladly hail Daniel Craig as the best Bond yet. We shall see. Casino Royale put me to sleep, and I have yet to see Quantum of Solace. Maybe I’ll change my mind after I see it.

– But lastly, I think there is one thing we can all agree on. For the most part, Bond movie themes kick ass. Seriously some of the best movit theme songs out there.

Any other Bond-ophiles out there? Come on out of hiding and sell me on Daniel Criag.

Sorry for the absence, folks. Been bogged down with the tummy bug from hell with all three kids. And blizzards. And 20 below zero weather. Add to that the oldest who mysteriously comes out of his room this morning with a stitch-worthy gash over his right eye (no, he won’t say how he did it -or can’t) and you’ve got all the makings for Christmas at Ground Zero.

But I made a promise to you all not long ago, and I haven’t forgotten. I’ve been working on Kevin’s story, and it will soon be ready for public viewing as a New Year’s present. An excerpt of Let’s Dish should also be available soon, too, so lots of action here at Chez Catie come the new year. Stay tuned. Once the plague has passed, there’ll be lots of moving and shaking going on over here.

This is a quick, down-and-dirty post, because today is crazy. However, I wanted to share with you all.

Another Time Around – a story about a rock-n-roll widow, her husband’s ghost, and the new guy in her life who just may be a psychotic stalker – has just sold to Samhain Publishing for release in late summer/early fall 2009.